Jewellery Displaced

The Bórax08001 collective took part in the B-side Festival (November, 3-6th 2011) with a series of Actions, entitled Jewelery Displaced, on the streets of Amsterdam. Our intention was to extend the Jewellery we make into public and urban spaces. We chose the streets as places of exhibition in order to reach an incalculable public. We used bidimensional visual media and our own body as supports for showing our jewellery pieces.

We bejewelled the city of Amsterdam.

Bórax08001 members at Amsterdam's Central Station

The act of using images of our pieces of jewellery on a scale adapted to that of the city, decontextualized their origin and at the same time these images, converted into reproductions, invited curious passers-by to imagine and reflect upon them. Some of these visitors asked about their origin or tried to decipher their meaning… and we dialogued with them and gave answers.

The inhabitants of the Dutch capital could discover images and pieces of jewellery made by the collective in the city’s main sites. We spoke, communicated, shared and informed people of what we do and also about the meaning that a piece of jewellery has under a concept or motivated by an inspiration.

A connection between our work, the city and the life of its inhabitants was created through this series of actions that took place during three consecutive days. The following photos  register the actions we made day by day:

Action-interventions of Bórax08001 in Leidseplein plaza

Day 1 Leidseplein Square from 1:oo to 3:00p.m. Enlarged color photographs of our pieces of jewellery were placed on the floor while we wore the same pieces of jewellery.

Action-interventions of Bórax08001 at Dam plaza

Day 2 Dam Square from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. We enlarged photos of the jewels in black and white and placed them in cardboard boxes. People approached and played with the pieces and tried to complete the puzzles. Also we formed our own multijewelled walls that dialogued with the visitors and the surrounding architecture.
Day 3 Central Station from 9:00 a.m to 12:00 a.m. We used our bodies as supports by wearing our own jewellery and as a group did a series of repeated movements and pauses looking to attract passers-by. We are grateful to the photographer Manuel Ocaño Mascaró for having registered this action.